Rangers ace Rabbi Matondo reveals Kevin de Bruyne influence on stunning Old Firm strike
RABBI MATONDO revealed Kevin De Bruyne was the secret to his Old Firm heroics.
The Rangers substitute scored a stunning goal past Joe Hart in stoppage time at Ibrox.
Matondo’s last-gasp strike denied Celtic a massive derby win.
And the Welshman, who sprinted to Philippe Clement to celebrate, revealed his boss used his fellow Belgian at Man City to inspire him.
Matondo beamed: “I ran over to him because before the game we were speaking and he asked me if I saw Kevin De Bruyne’s goal against Crystal Palace yesterday.
“We work a lot in training and he works a lot with me on cutting in and getting shots off and keeping it low in the corners.
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“So, I said to him, ‘Yeah, I did see it’ — but it wasn’t quite low in the corner the way he wants me to do it.
“But he said that when you get to that level like Kevin De Bruyne has, that’s basically his low corner anyway, the top corner!
“So, he said, ‘You will get there maybe one day’, and I said, ‘I’ll show you today!’.
“And yeah, I think I showed it quite well!
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"So, I ran over to him to embrace him, and it was nice. It’s all a blur, though. It happened so quickly.
“I just thought to take my man on and just get a shot off, and thankfully it’s flown into the top corner.”
Matondo got huge praise from his Ibrox boss for grabbing his chance.
Clement said: “It’s something we have been working on with him and the players for a couple of months.
“But it’s not something where you do it in training and then it just happens.
“I try to use examples of good players, to show my team things they can improve.
“Kevin is a good example in that way and we showed them things from David Beckham as well, who was also really good at going away from goal and putting the ball with control into the corner.
“For me it was one of the things which Rabbi was missing before from his game.
“He had chances to shoot and show his qualities and missed too many opportunities like that.
“It is really difficult to defend against his speed and agility, but there needs to be an end product — that’s crucial.
“So I am really happy that it’s not the first time because in the last game he scored another goal like that against Hibs.
“He is now understanding this part of the game and the game is about so many details.
“It’s our task as a coaching staff to teach them details they never thought about before.
“So I am really happy for him and for the team.”
Matondo reckons it’s the spirit in the Rangers team that earned them a crucial point in the title race.
He added: “It was positive because the way the game started, you could all see, it wasn’t ideal at all.
“The first half was kind of sticky, but we came in at half-time and the gaffer gave us his message.
“He even said that he didn’t recognise the team he’s been working with for the last five months and obviously the boys took that to heart and it showed.
“The first half wasn’t the best from us and we showed in the second half what kind of team we are.
“He just said we need to find the courage and mentality, get playing and be confident, not be afraid.
“I feel we did that in the second half, his message helped.
“Tav steps up to take a penalty like that and it’s unbelievable, because he’s obviously missed his last two.
“To step up like that and the way the game started, for him to hit it in the top corner like that takes some courage.
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“Fair play to him, and the boys kicked on from there. We improved in the second half.”
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